Digital-Twin Communication System

Role of the Digital-Twin Communication System

The Digital-Twin Communication System (abbreviated as System in the following content) is responsible for providing a method of communication for the nodes in the network. The node can be a browser, a PC client program, or a microcontroller.

The System is based on Ethernet architecture. End devices communicate over a wired or wireless Ethernet interface. Other components (such as the environmental Itsy-Bitsy microcontroller) also connect to devices that, in the end, communicate over Ethernet to the rest of the network.

The goal of the System is to provide a unified and robust solution to run lab applications in a fair and consistent manner. Many protocols and procedures are put in place to ensure the System is operational and running to full capacity.

Components

Central Server

The central server receives and handles requests initiated by numerous clients in the network.

Users can attach custom functions to the server.

Arduino Client

Python Client

Brower Client

Data Sync

All the entries in the main database will be in the format of [timestamp, key, value]

Because the System will use the timestamp as the unique primary key, which thus indicates that we can only have 1 entry per 1 ms, or 1kHz of data update rate across all clients. This should be sufficient to lower- to medium-scaled applications. For high data rate applications, a direct UDP method is preferred.

Logging and Data Collection

The server can log certain entries from the database and keep them permanently in a separate database. This way, the storage space used by the main database can be minimized, and entries can be cleared in a FIFO manner.

The logging database is also equipped with query capabilities. When the client initiates a query request, the server will automatically route the request to the most suitable database to fetch data.

Below is a list of all data that is logged by the System:

Entry	Unit
Temperature	℃ (Celsius)
Humidity	%
PM 1.0 concentration
PM 2.5 concentration
PM 10 concentration
< 0.3 um particle count	count
< 1 um particle count	count
< 10 um particle count	count
Light intensity	lx (Lux)
Magnetic field strength in X-axis
Magnetic field strength in Y-axis
Magnetic field strength in Z-axis
noise level	dB

The Execution Process

Environmental Monitoring

Inventory Querying